NHK symphony orchestra subscription concert no. 1964 by Beethoven, Brahms, Do. 22 Sept. 2022, Ab (2022/2022), Dirigat Fabio Luisi, Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan

In music history, not a few masterpieces have been unfavorably received at the outset, because of being ahead of the time and/or being first performed unideally. And Beethoven's Violin Concerto was a perfect example of that. Op. 61 is the only violin concerto completed by Beethoven apart from two short Romances for violin and orchestra. It dates from his exceptionally productive period when the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies were written. It was Franz Clement who played the solo part for the premiere in 1806. Beethoven reportedly finished writing it barely in time for the concert and the violinist played it mostly at sight. It was since hardly programmed during the composer’s lifetime. After his death, in 1844, the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim, wellknown today as Brahms' best friend, performed it under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn. This successful event was the impetus for the revival of the piece. The beginning of Op. 61 with timpani solo, unwonted at the time, already tells us why this music perplexed people at the premiere. The unusual length of the sonata-form first movement might have surprised them, too, and they had to wait for as long as four minutes until the leading role—violin solo—entered playing the melodious first theme. The slow movement is an equable variation ended by the soloist’s brief cadenza (improvisatory passage without orchestra). Without pause, the lively final movement in rondo form is started by the solo violin stating instantly the folkish, recurrent main theme. Traveling has inspired composers throughout time. In the case of Brahms originally from northern Germany, he was often away from his home in Vienna to spend several summers in picturesque resorts. And fortunately for music-lovers, he was productive on vacation. He wrote the Second Symphony during the summer of 1877 in Pörtschach, a scenic lakeside town in southern Austria. Unlike his dramatic First Symphony in C minor, the Second in D major—the key of Beethoven's Violin Concerto—has broadly a relaxed cheerful mood reminiscent of his sunny retreat. While his First shares common features with Beethoven's Fifth, Brahms' Second is often linked to his senior's Sixth Pastorale because of its serene and tuneful character. Nevertheless, the Second shows his typical melancholic tones in spots and a minute motivic development as described below. Strain your ears for the cellos and basses introducing a "motto" (brief motif) with three notes (D–C♯–D) when the sonata-form first movement starts. This musical germ would recur in various shapes and characters through the whole piece. The horns immediately give the pastoral first theme and later the cellos sing the flowing second theme resembling the famous "Brahms' Lullaby" (Wiegenlied Op.49-4). The next movement, opened by the wistful theme with the cellos, has a pensive, melodious nature. The third movement has a symmetric A–B–A–B–A structure. The courtly section A in triple time reminds us of the minuet dance. Its main theme given by the oboe is based on the reversed “motto.” In contrast, the section B has a scherzolike lively character. The smiling finale in sonata form is the most optimistic music Brahms penned. The mumbling first theme and the singing second theme are both derived from the motto. The brass section, including a tuba, livens up the brilliant coda to close the symphony. Following the successful 1876 premiere of Brahms' First, this Second was first performed in 1877 meeting with an enthusiastic reception. That must have been a load off his mind as the self-critical composer had spent over twenty years to complete his very first symphony standing in awe of Beethoven.